Political Parties and Congressional Leadership

Political Parties and Congressional Leadership 17.251/252 Fall 2004 Lecture Organization • Natural history of political parties in the U.S. • Why do parties exist? – What explains varying levels of party cohesion – When are leaders ―strong‖ and when are they ―weak‖? Interesting (and Important) Historical Aside • Party membership originally arose in the chamber and spread to the electoral arena • Now, party membership arises in the electoral arena and spreads to the institution Natural History of Political Parties Period 1789—1823 (1st—17th Cong.) 1823—1837 (18th—24th Cong.) Party of the “right” Federalists Party of the “left” Republicans 1837—1857 (25th—34th Cong.) 1857—present (35th—108th Cong.) Multifactionalism based on old party labels & new individual alliances Whigs Democrats Republicans Democrats Effective number of parties 3.5 Senate House 3.0 108/9th Cong: Senate 48/44D 51/55R 1/1I House 205/200D 227/231R 1/1 I /3 Und. 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 1800 1850 1900 year 1950 2000 Parties Change in Their Cohesiveness Congress Current Organization of Congress • Party responsibilities – – – – Scheduling business Distributing leadership among and within committees Promoting attendance and spreading information Facilitate bargaining • Resources that parties possess – Knowledge of rules – Access to tangible benefits Some notes about historical development • Party control – Until roughly the Civil War, parties don’t ―organize‖ the chambers – After the Civil War, they do (first the House, then the Senate) – Even so, party control of committees is a 20th century phenomenon • Over time formal party positions have proliferated and institutionalized – Institutionalization mostly a 20th century phenomenon Current Org Chart Position Constitutional head House Speaker Senate V.P./ President pro tempore Floor leader Whip Caucus Policy committees Committees on committees Majority/ minority leader Majority/ minority whip Chair, v.chair, secy. Majority/ minority leader Majority/ minority whip Chair, secy. Campaign committees House Position Constitutional head Floor leader Whip Rep Speaker Dennis Hastert (IL) Maj. Leader Tom Delay (TX) Maj. Whip Roy Blunt (MO) Chief Deputy Whip Roy Blunt (MO) Dem Min. Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA) Min. Whip Steny Hoyer (MD) Chief Deputy Whips John Lewis (GA), Joseph Crowley (NY), Ron Kind (WI), Ed Pastor (AZ), Max Sandlin (TX), Janice Schawkowsky (IL), Maxine Waters (GA) Chairman: Robert Menendez (NJ) Vice ch: Jim Clyburn (SC) Steering Committee Chair: Minority leader Dem. Cong’l Campaign Comm. Chair: Robert Matsui (CA) (?) Caucus Committees on committees Campaign committees Chairman: Deborah Pryce (OH) Vice ch: Jack Kingston (GA) Steering Committee Chair: Speaker Nat. Rep. Campaign Comm. Chair: Thomas Reynolds (NY) Senate Position Constitutional head Rep Vice President: Dick Cheney President pro tempore: Ted Stevens (AK) Dem Floor leader Maj./min. Leader Bill Frist (TN) Asst. Maj./Min. leader Mitch McConnell (KY) Conf. chair: Rick Santorum (PA) Vice chair: Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX) Min./maj. leader Tom Daschle (SD) To be Harry Reid (NV) Asst. min./maj. leader: Harry Reid (NV) To be Chair: Dem. Leader Secretary: Barbara Mikulski (MD) Whip Caucus Policy committees Committees on committees Campaign committees Chair: John Kyle (AZ) Steering Committee ch: NRSC Ch:George Allen (VA) Chair: Bryon Dorgan (ND) Steering & Coord. Comm. Ch: Hillary Clinton (NY) DSCC Ch: Jon Corzine (NJ) To be Charles Schumer (NY) Note some things about historical development • Regional/ideological balancing • Emergence of career ladder Why Do Parties Exist? • Anomalous position of parties in spatial models of legislatures – The chamber median should rule. Party is just a label – Who governs? Do leaders ―boss‖ followers (common view) or do followers terrorize leaders? Some perspectives on this question • Rohde: Conditional party government • Krehbiel: Where’s the party? – MIT3: Rules and distinguishing policy • Calvert: Parties coordinate • Aldrich, Cox, and McCubbins: Parties help members get elected Evidence that Parties Push Members Apart Source: Ansolabehere, Snyder, and Stewart (2001) Further Evidence Rohde & ―Conditional Party Government‖ • Observation: parties more prevalent • Claim: ―strong‖ parties don’t ―boss‖ • Democratic party – Greater heterogeneity over time – Greater ―power‖ given party organs – This reform was ―conditional party government‖ (pp. 31—34): greater power if agreement • Republican party – Defensive to Democratic resurgence – Events since 1991 only confirm the point